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Venza
The Most Serene City of Venza, jewel of the D'Oro coast, is a beautiful old city of many districts built across numerous small islands in a deep saltwater lagoon near where the Orino river meets the sea. The mainland rises up into forested hills where not covered by the intensive agriculture that supports the city. 'History' Venza was first settled by halflings who, acting in response to warnings of their goddess, Issolatha, fled the unnatural disasters of their far home to build crannogs in the lagoon where they could live in safety. Later human refugees found the place and seeing the defensive value of the halfling settlements embraced the idea and began the building of the foundations that would become the city of Venza. 'Geography' Land Features Southeast of Venza is an expanse of marshland comprised of tall grass and murky channels of shallow water surrounding waterlogged earth and deep, dark pools. The marsh is a good source of reeds for Venza's many craftsmen but harvesters must be wary of venturing too deeply into the maze of channels and falling prey to Boggards and giant frogs. The coast of the mainland north of Venza is rocky and grows progressively moreso as one travels to the northwest. Approximately 200 miles to the northwest a headland juts out from the mainland and ships are warned off the dangerous, rocky seas by the lighthouse on Roccino Isle. 'Government' The government is highly bureaucratic with several layers and branches of government: The Lord-Elect: Nominal ruler of Venza and elected for life, the Lord-Elect serves as the head of state and mouthpiece of the government. His power is severely curtailed, however, and most decisions are made by the Grand Council or lesser governmental bodies. The current Lord-Elect is Mauro da Coronelli. The Grand Council: The prime governing body of Venza; comprised of the thirty-three members of the Grand Masters, the Eleven, and the Scarlotti. The Grand Masters: Eleven of the most influential guildmasters of Venza selected from among the House of Masters. House of Masters: The assemblage of full masters of the various guilds of Venza. Four of the most powerful guilds in Venza include the Glassworker's Guild, the Merchant's Guild, the Guild of Saltworkers, and the Alchemist's Guild. The Eleven: Representatives of the eleven districts of Venza selected from the popular Council of the People. Council of the People: A body of commoners selected to represent the various districts of Venza. The Scarlotti: Eleven of the most powerful members of the traditional aristocracy selected from among Venza’s Houses of nobility and named for their distinct scarlet robes. The Metropolitan of Venza: A priest chosen from among the priests of all the temples of Venza who represents the temples and advises the Grand Council on matters of religion. This position is hotly contested particularly with the schism between the worshipers of Cortesia and Cortessa. Note: The Land Owners and Cultivator's Guild was originally created to protect the interests of the small land owner and farmer supporting the population of Venza. However, the noble Houses of Venza have recently discovered that the guild charter does not prevent their membership in the guild and so they are joining it with the intention of weakening the power base of the guilds and increasing their own political reach. 'Religion' Main Article: Venzan Religion Venza's core pantheon of deities, known as the Veneti, include Cortesia, the Bright Lady, patron of Venza; her rival Cortessa, Fair Lady of the Coin; Hinotheus, the Flame Wolf; the Twins, Sapo and Farino, gods of knowledge and craft; Dessano, a deity enslaved to Akutu, the alien enemy of the Veneti; and the inscrutable goddess, Issolatha. The cosmopolitan Venza with its well-traveled merchants and delegations of foreign merchants sees the worship of many other gods including a new favorite, Penk, Lord of Laughter, and the collection of elemental gods worshiped by Venza's halflings and others who ply the seas, the Stormlords. City Districts and Sites Venza, the jewel by the sea, is divided into eleven distinct districts. Citizens feel strong loyalty with their district/neighborhood, much like an extended clan. Districts have their own flags, colors, symbols, district temples, community meeting place, internal politics and local festivals. Some of the more famous districts are described below. The Twin Roses Upper class district (Rose) ---- The most beautiful district, the largest and arguably the most influential (though that honor in reality goes to Incudine with its many guildhouses), Roses is the home of the upper class and the fading nobility. Roses holds many of the city’s most impressive landmarks. Hidden courtyards and secret gardens house ancient varieties of rosebush historically espaliered but now frequently growing in riotous profusion of blooms and thorns. Roses is in actuality two districts, Roses D’Avorio (ivory) and Roses di Sanguigno, separated by the Grand Canal and ancient and irreconcilable differences. * The DiVetro Bridge, an ancient bridge of frosted glass decorated with the roses that gives the district its name, spans the Grand Canal and binds the twin districts of Roses together. The bridge subtly changes in color from blood-red on one bank to ivory on the opposite. Local legend says that the district was once all Roses D’Avorio until the War of the Brothers when the bloodshed was so considerable that it stained one end of the bridge red. * Roses D’Avorio. Symbol: Stag with white roses. ** The palace of House Boraga ** The White Cloak barracks, the city’s internal police force. * Roses di Sanguigno. Symbol: Tower overgrown with red roses. ** The Temple of Cortessa with its well-trained hierodules. Incudine Artisans district (Draft Horse) ---- Originally the workplace of the first smiths, the Anvil is now one of the oldest and proudest district in Venza. It is the place that led to the rise of the guilds, the working heart of the city, the site of all guildhalls that matter, the place where *real* work is being done. Here, by the side of winding wateralleys, smoke rises from smithies and glassforges without number, intricate cabinets are wrought from pale local woods and tinkling hammers turn golden ingots into flowing jewelry. In every street, masons and potters and sculptors and wood-wrights and painters and tanners proudly hang their best wares above the gates of their workshops, inviting the crowds to come in past the lucky glass chimes and *feel* the quality with their own two hands. Incudine is the place to come to if you want to buy local goods, negotiate commercial deals or even enter into the apprenticeship of your life. Triumph of the artisans art, spiritual center of the district, the Cathedral of Glass towers majestically over all this commercial hubbub. Made entirely of transparent glasssteel, the cathedral's holiest of sculptures and subtlest of decorations can often only be seen from certain angles or at certain times of the day, when the light hits them just right. At night, the cathedral glows from within with the light of a thousand candle, each one symbolizing a major donation by guild, district or certain influential individuals (ask the the porters where you can find the Matron of Flames; she can tell you the story behind each one). Most importantly, a colossal statue of the Lady herself, Cortesia, the Bright Lady, on a gigantic chair set at the head of the main nave, clever carving allowing the wind to flow through her lungs making her seem to breathe. Slightly smaller statues of the Twins, brothers in Knowledge and Crafts, sit looking kindly at each other from either end of the transept. The cathedral's broad steps let out onto the Benedetto piazza, also known as the Grand Piazza (although *not* located on the Grand Canal). This is the largest open air public ground in the city and a usual gathering spot for amateur actors wanting to try their trade, street performers, criers, activists of all sorts and an always present crowd of the curious looking for a distraction (salesmen are not permitted on the piazza, on pain of annoying the Gods). The piazza faces the White Cloak headquarters in Twin Rose across the wide Brothers canal. There is always a brace or three of them on the piazza proper. The Gulls Gateway to sea and land (Gull) ---- As named for the perpetual presence of sea birds associated with shipping, the Gull sits on the seaward side of Venza. Waters all around are dotted with colorful vessels at anchor, while the immediate area is thronged with smaller crafts loading and unloading exotic goods from far away lands or river crafts carrying crates, clay jugs and wooden barrels from just up-river. Merchant houses and import-export concerns cluster as close to the action as they can, channeling the wealth through everything from loud dock-side warehouses, enthusiastically open to the public, to exclusive Twin Rose waterside shops. An entire section of docks stretch past Ranocchio and is consecrated to Venza's infinite fleet of tiny fishing vessels and the thriving fish markets that they support year round. *The many-domed Capitoli, headquarters of the powerful Venzan navy, flies its beak-headed flags center-stage here. *The Dunn Wright Inn, gathering place of captains, crew, and those newly arrived in Venza, sits on the waterfront. Ranocchio Low class district (Frog) ---- Ranocchio is the slum district of Venza. It is poor, ill-kept, and many of the houses of the district are in a state of collapse. Most houses are built on timber pilings and what walkways that exist in Ranocchio are rough, narrow planks that give the district its nickname 'Planks'. Many of the volatile young men, meeting one another on the narrow walkways, will duel for right of passage across the planks. It is considered weakness to back down before blood has been shed. The bravos of Ranocchio frequently take their brawling into other districts of the city; they take great offense at the common epithet for a resident of Ranocchio, ‘little frog’, and easily exchange violence for perceived insult. Báyanmaliít Ethnic district (Badger) ---- Báyanmaliít, often called Little Town or mispronounced by non-gnomish speakers as Bangin' Mallet, is a neighborhood populated largely by gnomes, but many halflings have moved into the neighborhood finding the scale and homes to their liking. Báyanmaliít is characterized by tapering round towers connected by a myriad of bridges at multiple levels with billowing plumes of multicolored smoke and numerous waterwheels and strange whirring mechanical gizmos. At the center of the district is the School of High Artifice a fantastical continually expanding structure where alchemy and mechanical tinkering reach their peaks. Here the Gnomidrad meets to govern the district and school. The body includes the Head of the Alchemist's Guild, Little Town's representative to the Eleven, and Zenari da Cordone - the only human member of the Gnomidrad - head of the Cordone Scarlotti family and genius. As such it controls three votes on the Grand Council and enjoys great political power within Venza. The School of High Artifice also creates and maintain the notoriously buggy Clockwork Guard who form a formidable part of Venza's defenses, but are forbidden the streets anywhere save Little Town - due to several unfortunate incidents. Most Masters - with a mechanical bent at least - have designed and maintain their own clockwork guard and they are constantly competing to better their rivals by improving their own invention. Clockwork Guard: Mechanical contrivances, usually vaguely man shaped, which use the Animated Object stats and occasionally go haywire. If mechanics are desired for them "going haywire" see the Clay Golem's Beserk "Ability". High level or specific Clockwork Guards may be represented by other appropriate constructs, such as Inevitables, golems are largely inappropriate due to their magical natures. Though many speculate that the Clockwork Guards guidance systems must be magical in nature they generally do not detect magic - some have rare specimens have magical weapons fitted, etc. The Sunken City Not part of the Eleven Districts ---- Below the City of Glass lies another world sealed off the light and air. It is a place of darkness, cold water, and dwindling pockets of stale air. It is a city sunken out of sight beneath the silty waters. Situated in a marshy lagoon, the city must constantly contend with the problem of sinking structures. The richer inhabitants of the city are sure to build their structures on the few islands scattered around the lagoon. Their buildings are not nearly as prone to the sinking dangers as those built on the sea bed. As the silt below each building slowly gives way the structure settles a little more, and the water rises a little higher. Eventually a building becomes unusable. When this happens all of its entrances are sealed off and the new section is built on top of the last. Sometimes the lower level can be used as a basement until the eternally persistent water leaks in. When this happens the basement door is bricked off and sealed up. If a building changes hands the new owners might not know where these lower levels connect to. There are endless stories of people discovering old entrances to lower levels of their own building and finding treasures below. In reality this is very rare, but the romanticism of the idea never dies out. One tale that is more likely to be true however is less glorious. In a city without suitable graveyards and with a number of their population too poor for burials far out at sea, these sealed off areas are occasionally filled with bodies of the deceased. The practice is outlawed by the city, but a building owner about to seal up a basement sometimes find themselves approached by those who wish to rid themselves of mortal remains. Time and water endless erodes the edges of these structures. However, when a building was built with skill and good materials, entropy can be held at bay for a long time. The oldest buildings might go down several floors into the muck before the weight of the structure begins to break apart the lowest levels. Some of the ruined lower levels trap and hold large pockets of air. This can create underwater grottos inhabited by a wide array of strange creatures. Canalwise inhabitants of the city are well aware of this and some make their fortunes by breaking into a sealed off lower level then sneaking into the structure through the basement. Sometimes their work causing a building to suddenly sink due to released air pressure, which can cut off their escape route. If the basement has already been sealed off it can trap the robbers there for the rest of their short lives. These dangers are infrequent however, and there are plenty of desperate people willing to take the risk. Few people are aware of them, but the most dangerous inhabitant of the Sunken City are the Spirit Naga. Between the bodies of entombed dead and the watery passages, these evil aquatic serpents find this to be the perfect environment. Using their magics like boring insects, they are capable of making holes in floors and walls to connect together vast complexes of connected buildings. From their underwater homes they can prowl the canals above looking for victims. Their ability to bend the minds of their prey usually makes for quick and silent predations. Rarely small groups of spirit naga work together and form a coven not unlike hags. It is well that these creatures are incapable of working together for long, for their combined power is frightening. In addition to the spirit naga, the habit of burying the dead in the lower levels can have terrible results. When a tomb is breached either by robbers, tunneling naga, or the result of years of settling earth, the breach can unleash a horde of ravenous undead. Lacedon, aquatic ghouls, and water logged zombie corpses are the most common creatures encountered in these corrupted tombs. Few last long once released however, their hunger for living flesh draws them upwards to the canals above where they quickly attract attention and are dispatched. ----